After multiple executive orders and a litany of ensuing actions effectively have rendered regulatory agencies such as the CFPB, FHA, and HUD defunct, multiple civil and human rights organizations are roaring back.
The National Urban League, National Fair Housing Alliance, and the AIDS Foundation of Chicago are banding together to sue President Donald Trump and others over what they claim are three recent “anti-equity” executive orders.
Specifically, the plaintiffs in the lawsuit reference executive orders that would prevent them from recognizing the existence of transgender people, terminate equity-related grants, and forbid federally-funded entities from engaging in diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) programs.
Other defendants include, but are not limited to, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and its Acting Director Russel Vought; the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFFCP) and its Acting Director Michael Schloss; HUD and HUD Secretary Scott Turner; and the U.S. Department of Labor Vince Micon.
The Legal Defense Fund (LDF) and Lambda Legal on February 19 filed the federal lawsuit, National Urban League v. Trump, on behalf of the nonprofit advocacy organizations. The lawsuit specifically alleges that three recent executive orders from Trump violate the plaintiffs’ First Amendment rights to free speech and Fifth Amendment rights to due process, and also engage in intentional discrimination by issuing and enforcing the anti-equity orders in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA).
The organizations claim these executive orders would severely limit their ability to provide critical social and health services such as HIV treatment, fair housing, equal employment opportunities, affordable credit, civil rights protections, and many other services.
“The Constitution and our civil rights laws are centered on diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility. The President cannot undo the Constitution or take away our rights by affixing a signature to an executive order,” said Lisa Rice, president and CEO of the National Fair Housing Alliance. “The administration’s executive orders and OMB funding freeze memorandum have caused chaos, fear, insecurity, dysfunction, and loss of rights.”
Plaintiff Claims
In the complaint, the plaintiffs challenge multiple executive orders, including “Ending Radical and Wasteful DEI Programs and Preferencing” and “Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government,” both issued January 20, 2025, and “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity” issued January 21, 2025.
Collectively, “the executive orders assert that DEIA programs and activities are illegal and inconsistent with merit, hard work, and standards of excellence,” the plaintiffs allege in their complaint. “They penalize Plaintiffs for expressing viewpoints in support of DEIA and transgender people."
Further, "because of these Orders, Plaintiffs are at significant risk of losing federal funds that they use to help people of color, women, LGBTQ people, and/or people with disabilities overcome systemic barriers,” the lawsuit reads.
The plaintiffs additionally claim that “vague and ambiguous language” of the executive orders seeks to, allegedly, “intimidate” and “threaten” the plaintiffs from performing services, as well as jeopardize federal grants and contracts that are “critical for Plaintiffs to accomplish their mission-driven work." According to the complaint, “defendants have already taken action to implement these Executive Orders and have begun to terminate Plaintiffs’ federal funding.”
While the executive orders may claim that DEIA programs are “dangerous, demeaning, and immoral race- and sex-based preferences,” the orders do not specify what is or is not, allegedly, “dangerous,” “demeaning,” “immoral” or “illegal,” the complaint points out. Thus, the executive orders could prohibit Plaintiffs, they believe, from engaging in any targeted effort to help a specific group of people facing unfair disadvantages, violating their Fifth Amendment due process rights.
Statements
President and CEO of the National Urban League Marc H. Morial stated: “Many of our programs are supported by the Department of Labor. The assault on diversity, equity, and inclusion is discriminatory at best and an attempt at institutionalized economic oppression at its worst.”
“The Administration’s illegal actions put all people in harm’s way, driving up the cost of housing and leaving millions exposed to discrimination, harassment, and retaliation with no structure for protection,” Rice said in a separate public statement. "‘Out of Many, One’ is our national motto – any effort to divide, stoke fear, and treat people unfairly is not in line with our nation’s founding principles."
“We cannot end the HIV epidemic without working to address health disparities for Black, Latino, LGBTQ+ people, and transgender women,” John Peller, president and CEO, AIDS Foundation Chicago said in a separate statement. “These executive orders would prohibit us from doing that critical and lifesaving work, putting our clients’ and the broader community’s health at risk.”
“Beyond spreading inaccurate, dehumanizing, and divisive rhetoric, President Trump’s executive orders seek to tie the hands of organizations, like our clients, providing critical services to people who need them most,” said Janai Nelson, President and Director-Counsel of LDF.
